*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(2:04) “Slow-motion Train Wreck”: Senior leadership ageing out without replacements
(4:45) The reality of leadership moving on without a succession plan
(8:47) Training Your Rising Stars: Key methods for successful succession planning
(9:13) Pairing Off: The bonding of board members and next-gen
(12:15) The role of professional development
(15:00) Jeb explains “facilitation training”
(16:47) Jeb shares the work of Patrick Lencioni
(20:53) Four opportunities open for anyone during a leadership crises
(23:33) How an individual can approach leadership for betterment
(26:20) The Art of Dying: Jeb’s most valuable lesson learned from his four organizations

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(4:10): Matthew defines intellectual property.
(5:00) Intellectual property as “A creation of the mind”
(6:07) Categories of intellectual property
(8:30) It’s all about the timing: When to register your copyright
(10:20) The costs of certain copyrights
(13:08) Classes: the limits to trademark
(16:48) Gaining extended trademark protections
(20:06) When it is worth it to pursue a trademark
(21:16) Trademarks crossing state lines
(23:13) Should your nonprofit trademark its name?
(26:16) Three recommendations for trademarks
(31:00) The danger of using images you found online
(34:06) Matthew explains Nominative Fair Use
(34:50) Understanding commercial use
(37:36) Sites that do not require commercial licensing for use
(38:48) Matthew explains the CC0 License
(41:12) Paying a creator for your logo
(44:20) The origin of Matthew’s firm’s logo
(47:20) Closing remarks on the tips for using another’s intellectual property
(48:57) Matthew’s perspective on stoicism as a way of life

Major gift fundraising is a team sport, and every strong team needs a playbook. Doug Barker is the nationally recognized designer of major gift playbooks for nonprofit teams, and he shares the purpose, components, and best practices of drafting and implementing your major gifts playbook.

*****Timestamped Highlights*****(2:45) Doug introduces the playbook
(4:42) Current trends in giving
(8:19) Components of a major gifts playbook
(10:16) The four key roles on your major gifts fundraising team
(13:27) Building relationships between the members of your major gifts fundraising team
(15:50) Make Your Impressions Count! Doug’s success story about stewardship
(18:06) The roles of communication and sharing in stewardship
(22:11) Commitment matters in major gift fundraising
(27:01) The implementation of the major gifts playbook
(31:01) Discussing pipeline management
(32:34) Microsoft Man: Doug talks about how he keeps his data organized in his personal life

When it comes time to hire a new member, there is a lot of pressure to settle for the candidate that seems sufficient but not stellar. Beware, settling for the short term actually causes more pain in the future.

Since many nonprofit professionals dream of becoming a grant writing consultant, we recorded this session with Susan Bacon. Susan, who built and sold a successful grant writing business, shares the nuts and bolts of how to start a your own grant writing consulting practice.

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(2:20) The decision to start a grant-writing business
(4:48) Susan’s first nonprofit clients
(7:20) Let’s Make a Deal! Determining the right price for grant-writing services
(11:48) Recommended online tools and developers for your grant writing
(14:05) Strategies for recruiting grant writers
(21:15) How Susan drove more sales to her business
(24:00) How to close the deal with a nonprofit
(25:15) Susan shares her affiliations with Roller derby Listen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(2:35) Alexandra provides a primer on nonprofit earned income
(4:25) The difference between related and unrelated income
(6:00) Assessing your gaps and assets: Starting point for earned income strategies
(7:19) Alexandra and Focus Point
(12:00) Biggest mistakes made when pursuing earned income
(14:10) Tips for maintaining earned-income strategies
(15:00) Keeping your donors’ support while pursuing earned income opportunities
(19:25) Opportunities for earned income strategies
(24:15) Explore unintended consequences
(28:41) Boosting earned income strategies by renting out space
(29:50) Consider charging for a service you are already providing
(35:50) Alex and Dolph discuss the best luggage for international travelListen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(5:45) Moving beyond “artist centricity”
(7:50) Doug defines community outreach
(8:45) Rethinking outreach
(9:56) Inspiring examples of community engagement: Houston Grand Opera, Queens Bridge, and Early Music Ensemble in Seattle
(13:36) Activities to avoid when doing community engagement
(15:10) Four ingredients to community engagement
(18:39) Community Engagement 101
(24:00) Do you need new money for community engagement?
(26:58) Doug shares the most transformative piece of music he has experiencedListen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(3:42) Sandy discusses her counter-blog to Dahna Goldstein
(6:42) The biggest mistakes made when starting nonprofits
(8:42) Join the party? Merging ideas with an existing nonprofit
(10:45) A common scenario where merging does not work
(15:50) Know the Signs: How to know if someone is ready to start a nonprofit
(22:05) Sandy’s three problems with automatic revocation by the IRS
(26:37) Knowing the due dates and what’s due
(27:00) Handling the IRS
(29:00) Sandy shares what she wants to see less ofListen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(2:25) Fulton incorporates behavioral economics
(5:25) The power of social media followers
(7:00) Meeting Face to Face: Otis’ P2P success story
(8:00) Roles of “Team Captains” in Fundraising
(10:00) Top 3 reasons donors stop giving
(14:00) Basic roles of team captains in P2P fundraising
(15:55) Using “SWAG” to motivate team captains
(17:11) Providing social relationships over marketing ones
(19:20) Rewarding Racing Regattas: A lesson from Otis
(21:21) Insufficient Justification: a tool for avoiding a transactional relationship
(23:00) What to do if you run out of SWAG for donors
(24:55) The ALS Ice-bucket challenge: More than a P2P
(26:00) Relay for Life: A lesson on DIY fundraising
(28:25) Otis shares the greatest lesson learned from his D1 Basketball career

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(3:05) Michael introduces some secrets to fundraising
(4:57) The power of the pause
(6:00) How Crouch and associates evaluated top performers
(7:55) Becoming a top performer through self-awareness
(9:40) Reading for self-awareness and growth
(12:30) Facilitating accountability with 5x15 reports
(15:30) Facilitating accountability with 6x6 reports
(18:14) Make your bed: a requirement for a top performer
(20:00) Loving what you do: a requirement for a top performer
(24:00) How to cut cultivation time in half
(26:30) Michael explains the 66-question every fundraiser should know about their prospects
(30:34) Thanking, communicating, and personalization: methods for donor cultivation.
(35:00) Michael shares his favorite toyListen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

Listen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn
At this point in the planning process, the work group has spent two to three months to research and fully understand the organization’s history, constituencies, strengths, challenges, and opportunities.

So now it’s time to focus on strategic goal setting. Specifically, the work group needs to identify one or two strategic goals - you might call them big bold goals, big hairy audacious goals, or cathedral goals.

Some of us shy away from the pursuing a CEO position because we think we don’t have the personality, experience, or savvy to be a successful. We typically assume there is only one personality type for being a successful CEO, and this is misleading.

Today we speak with Kim Powell who shares insight from over 100 interviews with successful CEOs in her latest book, The CEO Next Door. This conversation:

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(2:30) Myth busters: Successful CEOs have Ivy League degrees
(5:45) Myth #2: Successful CEOs began pursuing the top-seat early in their careers
(7:00) Myth #3: The CEO is a superhero who saves the day
(8:00) Myth #4: Successful CEOs are extroverts
(8:35) Myth #5: Successful CEOs have swung from success to success throughout their careers
(11:15) Career blowups are an opportunity to learn
(15:50) Kim discusses four behaviors that can propel someone to the CEO position
(17:00) Behavior 1: Being accurately decisive
(18:00) Behavior 2: Reliability
(20:25) Behavior 3: Engaging for impact
(21:23) Behavior 4: Adapting proactively
(24:45) Kim’s shares her most interesting interview conducted for her book
(28:15) Kim shares the most diplomatic ways interviewees turned down her interviews for her bookListen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

As noted in the first two parts of this series, there is a lot of work involved in the environmental scan and reviewing the mission. In this segment, we discuss the role of the strategic planning work group and how to recruit high performing people to volunteer for it.

I bet your favorite brand makes you feel great every time you interact with them. Brands like Tiffany’s and the Ritz Carlton cater to our needs, but we don’t always treat our donors this way. In this episode, Rachel Muir shares stewardship techniques that will dramatically increase your individual donor loyalty and revenue.

Rachel Muir, author of Makeover my Board and founder of Girlstart, discusses how to enhance your donor cultivation by acknowledging all gifts, remembering donaversaries, making thank you calls, and getting to know donors as more than just a credit card or checkbook.

*****Timestamped Highlights*****
(5:45) Incentivize loyalty
(7:37) Amplify your donors’ experience using surveys
(10:00) Acknowledge donors’ gifts
(13:00) Inspire your donors to give again
(14:00) Send a message: how a thank you letter for a $3 gift encouraged a $100,000 donation
(15:45) The negative effects of “stewardship minimums”
(17:25) Thank you calls before board meetings
(19:30) For online gifts, use an email acknowledgement that sounds like a human wrote it
(20:45) Trees Atlanta goes above and beyond to thank Dolph for a small gift
(23:00) Everyone loved an Ontario nonprofit’s “thank you letter from a bird”
(26:00) How to approach your donors that “downgrade” their giving
(28:00) Low-hanging fruit: meaningful phone calls with donors
(31:25) Embody the core value of gratitude
(33:45) Dolph’s life lesson on responding to donors and supporters
(36:20) Rachel shares her experience on the being on the receiving end of donor cultivation

This bonus break is the third installment of a multi-part series about strategic planning. This episode focuses on developing a mission, vision, and core values that are both memorable and inspirational.

Today’s guests Kim Horton and Greg Giles discuss how to build a board that is excited about fundraising, community engagement, and community outreach.

Kim Horton is Director of Marketing and Communications at The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library (The Friends), and Greg Giles us the organization’s Vice President of Development and Community together, this dynamic duo demonstrates that connecting communication, money, and mission is essential for building an engaged fundraising board.

*****TIme-Stamped Highlights*****
(4:30) Greg and Kim share how they built their team
(6:00) Getting your board and advocates on the same page.
(7:19) Kim explains the importance of sharing success stories in their board meetings.
(9:45) A multi-part orientation: one of the keys to board introduction and engagement
(13:45) Kim and Greg’s 50-member board: overwhelmingly large, but still successful, proactive, and engaging
(14:52) Deadwood: board members that check the box and nothing more
(17:15) The cons of having all board contact running through one person
(19:00) Dinner date: the gathering of past and present board members for building engagement.
(22:45) Making board members comfortable: sharing messages and allowing board members to tailor them
(24:00) Involving past board members: hosting dinners, increasing access to leadership, and encouraging participation on committees
(26:29) Greg and Kim share which books from the library they have checked out the most and whyListen oniTunesAndroidStitcherLibsyn

This Bonus Break is the second installment of a multi-part series about strategic planning. This series is based on a lunch and learned that I presented last month, and I am breaking the lunchtime presentation into several Bonus Break podcasts. The first part of the series was released last week, and it focused on determining if you need a new strategic plan and wheter your organization is ready to actually begin the planning process. You can hear that Bonus Break episode here.

Once you are ready to roll up your sleeves and begin planning, it’s a good idea to understand the stages of strategic planning. There are four distinct stages of strategic planning that we will discuss over the next several segments in this series, and these stages are: The environmental scan, drafting the initial strategy, board feedback, and finalizing the plan.

This bonus break dives into the first stage of planning process: The Environmental Scan